The Battle of Germantown
After the American defeat at Brandywine, George Washington was determined to win a battle. Major General William Howe had set up camp at Germantown, Pennsylvania, with Major General Lord Cornwallis not far behind in Philadelphia. Washington and his staff created a rather skillful and thorough plan that was challenging to carry out with an untrained army. The plan was this: to surround the British camp in a double envelopment, which is a military tactic, where the flanks of the opposing army are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion. After the opposing army has moved forward, two more units move in to stop any attempts of reinforcements reaching the targeted unit. Unfortunately, this battle was doomed from the start. There was an extreme blanket of fog on the morning of October 4th, 1777, and gun smoke in the air did not make it any easier. The battle of Germantown was one that was ill-fated from the beginning and continued to be so until the end (Purcell 1) (Lancaster 1).
William Howe rejected General John Burgoyne’s offer to join forces with him in upstate New York, because his focus was on taking Philadelphia. Howe prevailed at the Battle of Brandywine, which led him to successfully take Philadelphia afterward. Due to this, it appeared that Howe was in control due to his constant wins. His main forces which contained around nine thousand men went into camp at Germantown, and Lord Cornwallis had three thousand more troops camping in Philadelphia (Axelrod 1) (Purcell 1).
Washington was not going to accept reprehensible defeat, so he had decided on a counterattack where Charles Cornwallis was residing with his troops – in Germantown. Though the American army had lost at Brandywine, it soon after g...
... middle of paper ...
...definite that Major General William Howe was in possession of Philadelphia, and George Washington had no choice but to leave and eventually go into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The Americans had lost 152 men, 521 were wounded, and more than 400 were captured. The British had lost 70 men and 450 were wounded (Axelrod 1) (Purcell 2).
Works Cited
Axelrod, Alan. "The Battle of Brandywine, the Fall of Philadelphia, and the Battle of Germantown." Eyewitness to America's Wars. Vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, 2011. N. pag. American History Online. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Lancaster, Bruce, J. H. Plumb, and Richard M. Ketchum. The American Heritage History of the American Revolution. New York: Bonanza, 1984. Print.
Purcell, L. Edward., and Sarah J. Purcell. "Battle of Germantown." Encyclopedia of Battles in North America, 1517 to 1916. New York: Facts On File, 2000. Print.
The battle of Gettysburg occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as a meeting engagement, but by its end involved approximately 170,000 Americans. The battle is considered to be the turning point in the American Civil War and is one of the most studied battles in American history. The events that took place at Gettysburg had a tremendous impact on the outcome of the Civil War and the fate of the United States. It is far easier for us in the present than it was for those at Gettysburg, to look back and determine the path that the leaders should have taken.
On December of 1776, Washington realized that he was going to have to take extreme action against the British. As a result, on Christmas night,
The American Revolution has too often been dominated by the narrative of the founding fathers and has since been remembered as a “glorified cause.” However, the American Revolution was not a unified war but a civil war with many internal disputes that wreaked havoc and chaos throughout America. In his book, The Unknown American Resvolution, Gary B. Nash attempts to unveil the chaos that the American Revolution really was through the eyes of the people not in power, including women, African American slaves, and Native Americans. In his book, Gary B. Nash emphasizes their significance in history to recount the tale of the American Revolution not through the eyes of the privileged elite but through the eyes of the people who sacrificed and struggled the most, but were left forgotten, in their endeavors to reinvent America.
Portland: Frank Cass & Company Limited, 1996. Middle Kauff, Robert. A.S.A. The Glorious Cause. The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Gordon S. Wood. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage; Reprint edition. March 2, 1993
Many famous people were involved in these battles. Paul Revere was a patriot who is well-known for his famous midnight ride.
Washington understood that what lies ahead would be difficult, considering he would be facing the most powerful country in the world. But he probably didn't expect his worst problems to come from his own army, which was an undisciplined and untrained group that would eventually tamper with his great patience. Through it all, he would stay determined and always try to stay one step ahead of the enemy. In the summer of 1775, the Americans prepared to attack the British in Boston. But Washington was informed that they were shorthanded on gunpowder.
Many suspect that they were with Washington only to maximize the hate on both sides of the battle. They went against Washington’s orders to not be the aggressors. Soon large units of British and American soldiers were sent to settle what should have been small battles. The French however were prepared to fight back and even had the Indians as allies to help with upcoming battles. In July, Braddock’s army which consisted of over 2000 British soldiers rode west with George Washington and came upon 250 plus French soldiers with over 600 Indians allies. Nearly 1000 British were killed, unlike George Washington who was unhurt during the battle was soon promoted to commander of the Virginia army for his bravery. (Roark 146)
The plans for Yorktown actually started up in May of 1781 when General Washington joined up with French General Rochambeau. The American forces at this time were stationed in the area of New York City closely watching British General Clinton’s forces. Washington knew that General Cornwallis who had been dominating in the south would soon be moving northward to rendezvous with Clinton’s and General Nathaniel Green’s forces. He also knew that if this happened it would be near impossible of defeating the British. As Cornwallis continued his northern track he ran into trouble at the Battle of Cowpens. In fact he lost much of his light infantry and cavalry in the Carolinas. He did score a victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, but this would prove to not help him much as he took severe losses and consumed a lot of time.
This battle took place in Manhattan and was commanded by Colonel Robert Mcgaw. The fort had 8,000 soldiers and held as much as 34 guns, 43 cannons, and important resources. On November 16, three British ships holding 3,000 men all together sailed up the Hudson and shot open fire at the fort. Finally, on November 18, the British successfully captured 3,000 of American soldiers and took all of the supplies/artillery. This was a very important battle for the British who gained tons of artillery and resources while holding a strong position in New York.
Late in the war, 1778, was the point of Britain being close to defeat. Current commander of British forces was Lt. General Henry Clinton trying to stop this rebellion. He was thinking on how to do this with the North of America under Patriot control. Clinton then decided on turning to the South of the United States (www.theamericanrevolutiong.org). Fighting was becoming heavy between the militia and the United Kingdom’s forces (www.theamericanrevolution.org). However, General Clinton had once been to the South of the U.S. before, but failed in taking a key city (Charleston, South Carolina) by sea on June 28, 1776 (www.theamericanrevolution.org).
... Bobrick, Benson. Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War. New York: Atheneum, 2004. Print.
"Battles of the Civil War". Civil War. 2013. Civil War Trust. Web. 9 Dec 2013.
...e gun, it seemed, the greater the owner‘s pride in it.” (McCullough 33) The Continental army certainly did not look like an army yet these people were brought together in this fight for freedom and prevailed even winning the support of Americans who had no hope the British would be defeated.” Merchant Erving had sided with the Loyalists primarily because he thought the rebellion would fail. But the success of Washington‘s army at Boston had changed his mind as it had for many” (McCullough 108). The reader must comprehend the power of this accomplishment for the rag-tag army. “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning-how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference- the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” (McCullough 294).
Gordon S. Wood, in The Radicalism of the American Revolution, discusses what it means to be truly revolutionary. In this work, Wood shares his thoughts on the Revolutionary War and whether or not it was a movement radical enough to be considered an honest revolution. Wood discusses the reasoning behind the views of those in favor of the war being considered radical, as well as the views of those who believe the American Revolution to be unfortunately misnamed. He claims that “the Revolution was the most radical and most far- reaching event in American history.” Wood’s work is a valuable source for those studying the revolution because it redefines what it means to be radical, but the piece is also limited by the lack of primary information